Faith in success

Success – however you define it, in whatever field you are pursuing it – is a matter of faith.

Faith that what you are doing today is going to bear fruits. Faith that despite not seeing any sudden improvement, change is happening in small increments every single day. Faith that even failure is important. Faith that the good work you are putting out there is worth it, for you and for the people you serve.

Always believe in the method and apply it systematically.

That’s what faith in success looks like.

Capstone

When you extend beyond your domain, you stretch past your comfort zone and find things you have never met before. It’s the way you learn, and it’s also the way you collapse under the weight of everything that is new.

Your purpose is your capstone.

What to aim for

The biggest problem with self-help books, business reviews, parenting blogs, marketing podcasts is that they give you a kick when your mind is at peace and make you feel awful the exact same moment things get hectic and you fail to follow their advice.

Hearing about what somebody else has done in similar circumstances is not going to shield us from pain, frustration, anger, and thousands of other feelings when the situation comes to us.

Life is tough, no matter what.

Finding your way, the way you can call your own and be proud of, is what you should aim for.

The good enough time

We know we should add the salary ranges to our job ads, but we are reviewing the salary level for internal employees and we do not want to send the wrong message. As soon as we are done with that …

I know I should take on new challenges and find something new, but I have this very important project to take care of. As soon as I am done with that …

I know I should spend more quality time with my family, but I am having a very busy period at work. As soon as that is over …

We know we should get to posting more often on our blog, but we have no good writer in our team. As soon as we can hire one …

The fact is, there’s never a perfect time to do the things we are supposed to do.

There’s a good enough time though.

It is now.

Sense of progress

When you sit down to do your work, start by deciding what is the #1 thing you want to get done today.

Is that a presentation?

A 3,000-word blog post?

The new LinkedIn campaign?

The quarterly report for the next board meeting?

Some estimates for next year?

A meaningful piece of a bigger project?

Whatever it is, start the day by picking the #1 thing, the one that will make that day a success. Take regular breaks as you go about it, but don’t stop your concentration by jumping to other stuff before you have that completed.

That’s what will give a real, tangible, and consistent sense of progress.